Noon.
The scorching sun burned the earth, as if the world had become a steamer, and cicadas chirped tirelessly.
Baal was still wielding her katana, trying to get as close as possible to the No Thought Slash in her memory, but her progress was still worrying.
Of course, this didn't mean her swordsmanship hadn't improved at all.
Rather, her swordsmanship was progressing very quickly, enough to make most sword-training samurai envious, but such progress... was still too slow.
It would take too long to recreate the No Thought Slash.
"...I really want to go out and level up by fighting monsters."
Baal sighed, gracefully sheathing her katana back to her waist. Compared to her arduous sword training, using system reward points to buy demon god residue for improvement was undoubtedly more direct and faster.
However, Kikyo didn't... go out to exorcise Youkai every day.
So she naturally had no chance... to go out with Kikyo to gain experience, and could only stay in the village and diligently train her swordsmanship.
Though she didn't dislike this peaceful life.
"Baal-sama, are you tired?" Xiao Feng walked over from the side and handed Baal a cup of clear tea, "Come, have a cup of tea and rest for a bit."
"Xiao Feng, thank you for the trouble." Baal took the tea, drank it, and then returned the cup to Xiao Feng, "You don't have to stay by my side all the time. Xiao Feng, you must have your own things to do, right?"
She had spent most of today with Xiao Feng, or more accurately, Xiao Feng had been taking care of her all day.
This made her feel a bit embarrassed.
No matter what, she was older than Xiao Feng, so it would be too shameful to let Xiao Feng take care of her like this.
Moreover, she was only training her swordsmanship.
She didn't need someone to specially look after her.
"Baal-sama, don't mind it." Xiao Feng scratched her cheek, revealing a shy smile, "I am Baal-sama's miko, after all."
A miko is someone who serves a deity, so it was only natural for her to take care of Baal, as it was part of a miko's duty.
Moreover, she could actually tell that Baal-sama was a complete novice in daily life, just like those noble young ladies.
She even lacked some basic life knowledge. If she didn't stay by Baal-sama's side, it would be easy for some mishaps to occur.
Not to mention, she also had to... drive away those who peeked at Baal-sama, to prevent Baal-sama from being taken advantage of.
That's right, taken advantage of.
After all, Baal-sama was a great beauty, with a noble aura that made people dare not profane her, yet still couldn't help but want to steal a glance.
Even the young men in the village, even if they had wives, couldn't help but sneak a peek. What if Baal-sama wasn't paying attention at that moment,
and accidentally, her clothes were snagged by a branch, revealing herself?
Wouldn't that be taking advantage of her?
So, she had to stay and take care of Baal-sama.
"Too bad I don't seem to have the ability to bestow blessings upon a miko." Baal raised her hand and looked at her palm, lightning flickering in her fair hand, "Otherwise, I could bless you, Xiao Feng."
She heard that other deities could bestow special blessings upon their miko, allowing their miko to wield powerful abilities.
However, she didn't seem to possess such power.
Even if she became the deity of Maple Village, she didn't seem to have mastered any special powers, not even as much as the 'Fear' amplification of the Hyakki Yagyō.
It felt... like a fake deity.
"This might be because the time is too short." Xiao Feng gave Baal a sunny smile, "When Baal-sama bears enough wishes and faith, you will definitely be able to display your divine authority."
"Hmph hmph, it's fine, I can still bless you, Xiao Feng."
Baal gave Xiao Feng a sly smile, bought a self-heating ramen from the system, and handed it to Xiao Feng.
"A delicacy bestowed by a deity, Xiao Feng, would you like to try it?"
"Is this... the delicious, fragrant noodles Kikyo mentioned?"
Xiao Feng's eyes suddenly lit up. She instinctively reached out to take it, then immediately withdrew her hand, feeling it was rude.
"Baal-sama, no need... I'm not hungry."
She forcibly averted her gaze, not looking. Although she didn't know how precious the self-heating ramen Baal-sama had taken out were,
it was definitely not something she could afford to eat.
She couldn't comfortably eat such a precious food, after all, she hadn't done anything for Baal-sama.
So, she felt unworthy.
"It's fine, this is not... anything precious." Baal seemed to have seen through Xiao Feng's thoughts, raising her hand to rub Xiao Feng's head, "Just take it with confidence."
With that, she handed the self-heating ramen to Xiao Feng.
Seeing this, Xiao Feng hesitated for a moment, but still couldn't resist the temptation. She shyly buried her head in her chest and took the self-heating ramen Baal offered.
"...Thank you, Baal-sama."
She said softly and gratefully.
If affection had a progress bar, it would now show Xiao Feng's affection for Baal increasing significantly.
And just then.
Baal suddenly froze, noticing something unusual. It seemed her will could be projected onto Xiao Feng in front of her.
How to describe that feeling?
It was as if she and Xiao Feng had established a channel, and an emotion was transmitted from Xiao Feng, like the attachment of a fledgling bird.
That transmitted emotion... slightly strengthened her power.
Although it was a negligible amount of power, there was no doubt that her power had been enhanced.
Moreover, it seemed her power... could also be transmitted to Xiao Feng.
"Xiao Feng, I seem to... have some divine power now."
"...?" Xiao Feng blinked, not understanding, then reacted with a joyful expression, "Baal-sama, congratulations!"
"Mm, I seem to... be able to bless you, Xiao Feng." Baal rubbed Xiao Feng's head, whispering with a smile, "Xiao Feng, you can try to see if you can use my power."
"I understand, Baal-sama!"
Xiao Feng nodded obediently, then tried to sense the deity according to the knowledge she had learned.
Which was the miko's essential work... communicating with the deity.
A moment later.
Baal felt Xiao Feng's prayers through the established connection, and almost instinctively, she sent her power along the connection.
That is, she lent her power... to Xiao Feng to use.
"Baal-sama, it worked!" Xiao Feng opened her eyes in surprise, clenching her fists uncontrollably, "I feel Baal-sama's power lingering within my body!"
"Come, quickly try to use it!"
Baal was also looking forward to seeing what kind of power the miko she had blessed would display.
"Mm, I understand!"
Xiao Feng nodded seriously, raised her hand and spread her palm, then took a deep breath, and gently closed her five fingers.
Electric light flashed and darted between her five fingers.
A faint crackling sound emitted.
"..."
Baal's expectant expression froze. This tiny amount of electricity couldn't even electrocute someone.
It couldn't even be used to exorcise Youkai.